Macaroni & Cheese Soup

This was another recipe from the free trial issue of Cuisine at Home.  Another winner.  Not soupy in the traditional sense, but not a true Mac and Cheese either.  The recipe calls for blue cheese topping. I'm not a real fan of blue cheese even though Sweet Harold is.  He said no problem with leaving it off as far as he was concerned.  I topped with Sweet Paprika and the chopped chives. 

1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced celery
2 T. unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose four
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
2 cups whole milk
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 T. minced fresh chives

Cook macaroni in a pot of salted water according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Sweat onion and celery in butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Stir in flour to coat and cook 1 minute.

Deglaze with wine and simmer until nearly evaporated.

Stir in broth, mustard, nutmeg, and cayenne.  Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. 

Then whisk in milk and warm through.   Do not let boil or base may become grainy.

Add cheddar, 1 cup at a time, allowing it to melt completely before adding the next cup.

Stir in macaroni, lemon juice, and salt; remove from heat.

Garnish as desired.

I have to admit...I just LOVE those action shots that Sweet Harold captures for me (us)!

Buffalo Chicken "Fries"

Received a free preview issue of Cuisine at Home.  This recipe caught my eye because I love hot wings, hot wings sauce, hot sauce, you get the idea.  Sweet Harold is not a fan of Buffalo anything because, to him, the sauce is "twangy."  Oooooook.  To each his or her own.  He agreed to try this one because instead of using a traditional wing sauce, this is simply your favorite hot sauce (which for him is Louisana Hot Sauce) http://www.louisianapepper.com/, butter and honey. 

1/3 cup hot sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 T. honey
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

  sliced length-wise into 1/2 inch wide strips, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided

Preparation

Whisk together hot sauce, butter, and honey in a large bowl.

Cut chicken tenders into 1/2 inch strips.  Salt and pepper them.

Toss chicken strips with flour in a large, resealable plastic bag until coated; shake off excess flour.

Heat 2 T. oil in a large saute' pan over medium-high; add half the chicken strips, saute' until browned, about 2 minutes per side

Transfer to hot sauce mixture and toss to coat.  Repeat with remaining oil and chicken strips.  Place in a pretty serving dish and serve with celery sticks.

Fried Cornbread

There are few comfort foods I like better than hot cornbread with butter.  But sometimes there's not time to cook a large skillet of cornbread or you just simply don't need that much.  Here's a quick alternative thanks to Sweet Harold!  His very  first Fleur de Lolly recipe.  Congrats Sweet Harold!

2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix

1 1/4  cup buttermilk

1 T. melted bacon grease

Mix these ingredients well.  With a large skillet, over medium heat, spray a little non-stick spray.  Ladle out batter just like you were making pancakes.  When browned on one side, gently turn with a spatula.  Brown on other side and remove from skillet.  Top with butter and continue cooking batches until batter is all used up! 

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Remember we used the white meat of the chicken for our chicken pot pie. Now it's time to put the dark meat to good use. A nice pot of chicken vegetable soup. I used a mixture of veggies from our garden which had been put in the freezer along with some fresh veggies and added some prepacked store bought frozen veggies. Feel free to use all fresh, all frozen or a mixture as well.

2 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 qt. tomatoes with juice

5 cups chicken stock/broth

1 cup frozen green peas

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen green peas

1 cup frozen green beans

5 potatoes, chopped

salt

pepper

1 T. dried thyme

First step:  Remove the dark meat of the chicken from the bone. Shred and set aside. Put the chicken bones in about 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about 30-45 minutes and then strain. 

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, carrots and celery until softened, about 5 minutes. 

In a large Dutch oven heat tomatoes over medium heat, breaking them up with wooden spoon.

Add sauteed vegetables. 

Add remaining chicken broth, vegetables, chicken, salt and pepper to taste and thyme. 

Let simmer until potatoes are tender.  Serve with hot cornbread.

Basil-Lemon Shrimp Linguine

This recipe comes from The Potluck Cookbook. If you don't care for shrimp, don't worry. This would be excellent with chicken or all veggies. It will take longer for the water to boil for the pasta than it does for this dish to come together. Perfect for a weeknight supper!

2 lb. fresh or frozen shrimp, shelled and deveined

12 oz. dried linguine or fettuccine

1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces

4 T. olive oil, divided

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups thinly sliced, red, yellow, orange and/or green bell peppers

2 t. lemon zest

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 cup snipped fresh basil

1/2 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup lemon juice

red pepper flakes (optional)

lemon wedges (optional)

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Leave tails on if desired. Rinse shrimp, pat dry with paper towels and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions, adding asparagus during the last three minutes of cooking. 

Drain. Return pasta mixture to hot pan; cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, stir and cook for 15 seconds.

Add pepper strips.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until crisp tender.

Add shrimp, lemon zest, salt and pepper. 

Cook and stir for two mintues or until shrimp are opaque.  Remove from heat.

Add shrimp mixture to warm pasta mixture.  Add snipped fresh basil, the green onions, lemon juice and remaining olive oil.  Toss gently to coat. 

Transfer to serving bowl.  If desired, garnish with red pepper flakes, lemon wedges and additional basil.

Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Thyme Crust

This is my first attempt at a savory pie crust. Recipe is from Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners cookbook. My son loves chicken pot pie. I've always used frozen pie crusts and the "cream of mushroom soup" filling with frozen mixed vegetables. Well, last night we entered an entirely new world of Chicken Pot Pies. This takes some time to make, but it is so worth the time and effort. Pick a nice weekend afternoon and have fun with this one. I used a rotisserie chicken and only put the white meat in the filling. We'll use the dark meat later today for a soup. 

Here we go.....

For the crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ t. salt

12 T. cold unsalted butter

2 large egg yolks

½ T. dried thyme

Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade.  Cut the butter into 1/8 inch thick slices and add to the flour mixture. 

Pulse 10 - 12 times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Beat the yolks with 2 T. ice water and add to the mixture; pulse 4 to 5 times, until a crumbly mixture forms. Add thyme and mix well. Press the mixture together to form a ball, adding more water, if necessary, to make it manageable. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough until you get the filling prepared.

For the filling:

2 T. olive oil

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 small onion, diced

8 oz. mushrooms, chopped

1 cup frozen corn (thawed)

1 cup frozen petite green peas (thawed)

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

1 t. dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté the first three ingredients until softened. 

Add next three ingredients and cook for 3 – 4 minutes. 

Here's the chicken!  I only used the white meat.  Or course, you can use whatever you want!

Add shredded chicken and thyme and season with salt and pepper, let heat through. 

Remove from heat and place in a large mixing bowl.

For the sauce:

6 T. butter

¾ cup all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken stock, heated

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 t. salt

½ t. black pepper

Wipe skillet clean and melt butter. Add flour and cook over low heat for 2 minutes. 

Add the hot chicken stock and simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. 

Add salt, pepper and cream. 

Stir until well blended.

Pour over chicken & veggie mixture, stirring until well mixed.

Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in two portions. Generously flour work surface and roll until desired size. Place into greased deep dish pie plate and fill with chicken veggie mixture. 

Repeat with other half of dough and place over pie. Press the crusts together and prick generously with a fork over the top of pie crust.

Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 40 – 45 minutes until crust is browned and the filling is hot.  Enjoy!